Candlelight: Symbol of Consciousness in Holy, Protective Space
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, 제7권 제2호 Journal of Symbols & Sandplay Therapy 2016, 12, Vol. 7, No. 2, 87-106. Candlelight: Symbol of Consciousness in Holy, Protective Space Lee Na Kyoung* <Abstract> This study examined the symbolism of candlelight that is frequently observed in sand pictures. Candlelight represents light in the darkness of life, bright future, vitality of sun, or uncertainty and evanescence of life that can easily vanish. Birth and death of human being is compared to creation and extinction of candlelight. Candlelight that is lit at deathbed breaks darkness of death and it symbolizes the light in afterlife. As for the existing method of candlelight, it reveals its nature by burning itself. Hence, candle, which completes its existence through an encounter with flame, is an important symbol that shows birth, death, resurrection, and holiness. This study examined the symbolism of ‘candlelight’ from an aspect of analytical psychology by dividing into ‘Temenos’ as a holy protective space, ‘Initiation’ to death that is encountered at the process toward regeneration, and ‘Consciousness’ that naturally begins a noble evolution by converting unconscious characteristics of Self to be conscious. The paper analyzed the symbolism of candlelight by examining the sand pictures of client. Keywords : candlelight, temenos, initiation, consciousness * Corresponding Author: Lee Na Kyoung, Counselor-researcher, Mara Youth and Family Counseling Center ([email protected]) - 87 - Journal of Symbols & Sandplay Therapy, Vol.7 No.2. Ⅰ. Introduction The candlelight symbolizes birth, death, resurrection, and sacredness. It also represents the light amid the darkness of life, bright future, vitality of the sun, or uncertainty of life and transience. Candles lit at the time of death give light to the darkness of death and symbolize the light in the afterlife. Because of its symbolisms, people perform certain rituals that involve turning the candle on and off to mark birth and death: People celebrate their birthdays by blowing out a certain number of candles and, likewise, also commemorate the death by lighting and blowing out the candle during the funeral ceremony, which is usually done in Catholic- and Eastern-style funerals (Cooper, 1978). The candlelight retains its existence burning itself. The candlelight comes to life when the candle meets the flame. As a symbol of the sun, the candlelight has both vitality and dynamism of the sun. It is presumed that humans first experienced fire through natural phenomena such as volcanic eruptions and lightning. Therefore, the primitive man believed that the origin of the flame is the sky or more specifically, the sun in the sky. Because the ancient belief was that the sun is god, holding the flame sacred was equivalent to worshiping the sun-god. The ancient people also believed that it was the revelation of the heaven that the fire came to earth. Because of this belief, fire became an important means of connecting human beings and gods in religious rituals. Lighting the fire therefore can still be seen in religious ceremonies or even the Olympic Games today (Cooper, 1978). The primitive man believed that the flame fills the energy of the cosmos and therefore held fire, or the source of life, scared. They tried to keep the fire alive day and night to obtain energy for their soul and their unconscious world through its flame, the surrogate of the sun, even after dark. The flame brings life-force into the soul and the world of unconscious (Friedman & Mitchell, 2011). With what has been said above, it can be said that the candlelight has an image of life only when it exists in the form of a flame. Candlelight has a significant meaning in various religions. In the religious meetinghouses of Native Americans, fire was lit to mark the sacred center in which the great divine spirit lives. The Buddhist belief is that the candlelight relieves the human soul, that the - 88 - Lee Na Kyoung / Candlelight: Symbol of Consciousness in Sacred, Protective Space will of man ascends to the sky through the ascending, vertical light, and that humans receive the divine revelation through it. In Christianity, candlelight represents religious passion and martyrdom. It also represents the “resurrection” of Christ, with the candle symbolizing the “body” of Jesus Christ and the fire symbolizing the transformation toward an “eternal life.” The tongue of fire mentioned in Acts 2:3 represent the descent of the Holy Spirit, the voice of God, and the revelation of God. In Hinduism, candlelight represents the transcendent light, knowledge, and the vitality of wisdom. In Judaism, menorah, the seven-branch lampstand of Moses, represents the presence of God (Exodus 25:31-40). The Roman-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus explained that the seven lamps of the golden menorah represent the sun, the moon and the other five classical planets; seven days of the week; the Big Dipper, and the seven cycles or powers that exist in the world. In Kavala, a city in northern Greece, people believed that three candles or a candleholder with three branches represent Sephiroth’s wisdom, austerity, and beauty (Cooper, 1978). According to the ancient Jewish philosopher Philo Judaeus, Menorah represents the blessings upon all things in heaven. Candlelight is created through the meeting between a candle and a flame. Through the meeting of the two, the candlelight contains the opposite elements of darkness and light, birth and death, and ascending and descending. This quality makes the candlelight an important symbol that connects the unconscious and the conscious. What is particularly special among these opposites is the pair of birth and death. During the process of the sandplay therapy, clients often meet emotions connecting to birth and death through candlelight. The clients that are introduced in this paper often turned off the light in the therapy room, lit the candle, and observed at their inner worlds that came to light amid the darkness. They expressed various emotions through this experience, crying silently, crying aloud, happily staring at the sandpicture in mesmerization, or hardening the face. They confronted their unconscious in the sacred ceremony that took place through the candlelight. This paper observes the three major symbolisms of the candlelight from the viewpoint of analytical psychology: the “temenos” or the space of divine protection, “initiation” where there is death and rebirth, and the “development of the consciousness” where the unconscious - 89 - Journal of Symbols & Sandplay Therapy, Vol.7 No.2. contents come to consciousness and naturally begin to evolve. It also shows sandplay cases in which these symbolisms of the candlelight were manifested in the sandtray. Ⅱ. Characteristics of the candlelight Candle is a light source or fuel made of wick and paraffin or wax in a solid form. The main purpose of a candle is to create fire. Whereas candles were mostly made of tallow (processed suet, or hard fat, from cattle and sheep) until the 19th century, most of them today made of paraffin. For a candle to burn, a heat source is used to light the candle's wick, which melts and vaporizes a small amount of fuel (the wax). Once vaporized, the fuel combines with oxygen in the atmosphere to form a constant flame. This flame provides sufficient heat to keep the candle burning via a self-sustaining chain of events: the heat of the flame melts the top of the mass of solid fuel; the liquefied fuel then moves upward through the wick via capillary action; the liquefied fuel finally vaporizes to burn within the candle's flame. Candles can be seen commonly during birthday, wedding, and religious ceremonies. In the first century in Rome, candles were made of tallow and the pith of the rush plant. The word candle comes from Latin candere, which means to glow or shine. As early as 3,000 B.C.E., candles made of beeswax were in used in Egypt and Crete. Earlier candles were made of various natural fat, tallow or wax. In the 18th century, spermaceti, oil produced by the sperm whale, was used to produce the finest-quality candle. Late in the 18th century, colza oil and rapeseed oil came into use as much cheaper substitutes. And in 1830, the method of distilling paraffin wax from coal and oil shales was introduced brought about a revolution in the candle industry as paraffin wax could be used to make inexpensive candles of high quality. It burned cleanly and left no unpleasant odor, unlike tallow candles. In recent years, transparent resin-based candles that apparently burn longer than traditional paraffin candles have become commercialized. These candles are often scented and contain oil (https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%96%91%EC%B4%88). - 90 - Lee Na Kyoung / Candlelight: Symbol of Consciousness in Sacred, Protective Space In Korea, lanterns became a common necessity early on as they were easy to make and the fuel was easy to obtain. Candles were commercialized later due to the scarcity of raw materials and the difficulty in production. Although it is unknown exactly when candles were first used in Korea, it is presumed that they have existed since the Gojoseon dynasty1), as evidenced by literatures and an advanced form of called machok presumably from the Three Kingdoms period2). In addition, candle-scissors-which were used to trim candle wicks-excavated from Anapji Pond in the city of Gyeongju lets us know that candles were already used during the Three Kingdoms period. Interestingly, the blade section is made up of two semi-circles which form a round depression when closed together. The scissors were designed in this way so that any pieces of cut wick fell into the depression, which is a good example of ancient Korean wisdom. Traditionally in Korea, the candle was an important symbol for marriage. Those used during the wedding ceremony were made with wax of different colors and various patterns to suit the festive mood.